And physicians we have. Because over 1700 amy nearly 1600 people died tuesday in the United States from covid in the deadliest day of the pandemic in six months, we go to el paso, texas, where authorities have set up 10 words. Then to north dakota, the deadliest state in the world for covid. We will look at how the virus has devastated Indian Country. Black americans and latinas are three times as likely to contract covid than others and more likely to die. Native americans are more than four times as likely to be hospitalized as others. Amy we will speak to members of the Standing Rock sioux tribe in north dakota, the Oneida Nation and a navajo activist in arizona. We will talk about covid and the resident it voter turnout of native americans. Unprecedented voter turnout of native americans. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. Over people died in the united 1700 states tuesday from covid19 in whats been described as the deadliest day of the pandemic in six months. The overall u. S. Death toll is approaching a world high of 250,000. At least 20 states have broken new records for covidrelated spitalizations. In news from washington, d. C. , 87yearold iowa senator Chuck Grassley has tested positive for covid19. He is the oldest republican in the senate. He is president pro tem, making him third in line for the presidency. Grassley spoke from the senate floor without his mask monday. During mondays senate session, ohios Sherrod Brown blasted republicans for their wanton disregard for basic coronavirus Protection Measures and asked alaskan senator dan sullivan to wear a mask while presiding over the chamber. I would start by asking the presiding officer to please wear a mask while he speaks. The people below him i cant tell you what to do i dont wear a mask when im speaking, like most senators. I dont need your instruction will stop i know you dont need my instruction, but there clearly isnt much interest in this body of Public Health. We have a president who has not shown up at the Coronavirus Task force meeting in months. We have a majority leader that calls us back your to vote on an unqualified nominee, the same time to vote for judge after judge after judge, exposing all of the people who cant say anything. I understand people in front of you and the presiding officer and expose all the staff here. Amy in medical news, the fda has authorized the first athome coronavirus test. The nasal swab requires a prescription and can produce results in about half an hour. President trump has fired a top election securitofficial at the department of Homeland Security just days after he publicly rebuked trumps claims the election was rigged. Christopher krebs served as the director of the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency. Last week, the agency released a statement describing the020 elections the mt securen ameran histo. Trump red krebvia a ssage on twier. Ebs respded with tweet saying honored to serve. We did it right. Defend today, secure tomorrow. Protect2020. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the firing a dangerous and shameful charade. Krebss deputy matt travis has so been reportedlyorceout ofis job. Michiga electioofficial in the stelargest unty certifiejoe bids viory tuesdanight afr a dramic versal. The two ite repuicans onhe wayncounty brd of caassers initiallblocked rtificatn sayi they dinot want t inude votes om detroit whicoverwhelngly suprted biden. Esident trp th tooto twitter to praise the republican effort, saying having courage is a beautiful thing. The usa stands proud reverend wendell anthony, the president of the naacp in detroit, criticized republican efforts to disenfranchise votes in detroit. Have extracted a black city out of a county is that the 80 of thet fault people who resign there are africanamericans. Shame on you. Shame on you. You are a disgrace as it relates to the ability to have a free and impartial election in this nation. Amy ned staebler, a Vice President at Wayne State University in detroit, also criticized the republicans on the wayne county board of canvassers. I just want to let you know that you of racism have covered yourself in is going to follow you throughout history. Your grandchildren are going to all connor orike george wallace. Amy president elect joe biden announced senior white house appointments tuesday. Among them, louisiana congressmember and former Congressional Black Caucus chair cedric richmond, who has been tapped to lead the White House Office of public engagement. Climate activists slammed the decision with Sunrise Movements Varshini Prakash saying today feels like a betrayal because one of president elect bidens very first hires for his administration has taken more donations from the fossil fuel industry during his congressional career than any other democrat. The Sunrise Movement also accused richmond of ignong members of his community who have suffered from toxic pollution and sealevel rise. The senate voted tuesday to block the confirmation of Trump Nominee judy shelton to the board of the federal reserve. The 4750 vote came after two republican senators missed the vote Chuck Grassley, who has covid19, and floridas rick scott, who is quarantining after exposure to the virus and two republican sided with democrats, mitt romney and susan collins. Lamar alexander was not present for the vote. Jority leader Mitch Mcconnell changed his vote to no, a procedural maneuver that gives him the chance to bring her nomination up again later. Shelton has criticized the feds independence and has advocated returning to the Gold Standard a controversial Monetary System where the value of the dollar would be directly linked to gold. She has also been condemned for changing her views to line up with trumps and for regularly scheduling press interviews at the trump hotel. As secretary of state mike pompeo is scheduled to visit an illegal israeli settlement in the occupied west bank this week, over 40 House Democrats are calling on him to condemn the illegal demolition of the Bedouin Community of Khirbet Humsah in the Jordan Valley by Israeli Forces earlier this month, which left dozens of people homeless. The effort was led by wisconsin congressmember mark pocan, who said in a statement there is no excuse for the de facto annexation of palestinian land, and america cannot remain silent in the face of these human rights abuses any longer. The iranian government has warned of a crushing response if the Trump Administration strikes irans main nuclear site or attacks any of its allies in the region in the last two months of trumps presidency. The New York Times reported this week trump may still be looking for ways to attack iran despite advisors warning him a strike could escalate into a bigger conflict. Ethiopian Prime Minister abiy ahmed is rejecting international pleas to end the countrys to recall conflict and said military operations in the semiautonomous Northern State of tigray are entering their final phase. Hundreds of people have died since ethiopian troops began the attack on tigray on november 4. More than 25,000 refugees have fled into sudan. In mexico, a group of 120 indigenous otomi families has indefinitely moved into the mexico city offices of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples to demand an end to continuous government violence and neglect during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. The occupation has been in place since Indigenous Peoples day and is being led by otomi women, who are calling on the government to immediately meet their needs, including Food Security and access to health care, work, education, and housing. The u. S. Government has agreed to drop all charges against mexicos former defense secretary, general salvador cienfuegos, and to allow for his return to mexico. Cienfuegos was arrested at a los angeles airport in october and indicted on Money Laundering and Drug Trafficking charges. He had been accused of working with the Beltran Leyva cartel to arrest and torture rivals in exchange for bribes. The Mexican Government has not committed to arrest or charge cienfuegos. He served as defense secretary under former president enrique pena nieto. Back in the United States, President Trump is pushing through new rus making it harder for people to obtain government benefits. A new regulation will make it harder for people who are denied disability benefits to appeal by allowing the Social Security administration to use its own lawyers to hear the appeals, instead of Administrative Law judges, who are more independent. Meanwhile, two pending rules would restrict Eligibility Criteria for food assistance, potentially kicking millions off the government plan. The Supreme Court on monday denied a request by elderly prisoners to require stronger pandemic precautions at a texas prison, despite older people being much more vulnerable to the coronavirus. This comes as a group of prominent religious leaders and peace activists have called on new York Governor Andrew Cuomo to grant clemency to 76yearold david gilbert, a Weather Underground activist who has been behind bars for nearly four decades for his role in the murder of two Police Officers and a Security Guard in 1981. The tter to Governor Cuomo was signed by nobel peace laureates, including Archbishop Desmond tutu and the families of Martin Luther king, jr. And mahatma gandhi. And here in new york ahead of an expected travel boom next week for thanksgiving, airport workers rallied at laguardia tuesday to demand Governor Andrew Cuomo sign the healthy terminals act which would provide 25,000 frontline Airport Service workers with access to health insurance. The majority of the workers are black, brown, and immigrant. 32 president local kyle bragg. It is clearly life and death workers. This matter is a matter of humanity and of justice and what side we will be on and remembered for and it is crisis. Did we stand up for workers . Did we stand up for the airport workers . The essential workers who keep this place moving . Will they have the confidence and security of a Health Care Plan . Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman in new york where the covid numbers are going up, joined by my cohost jerseynzalez in new where the numbers are escalating alarmingly. Hi, juan. Juan hi, amy. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. People died from covid tuesday in the United States. It is the deadliest day of the pandemic in at least six months. As Public Health officials across the United States brace for a covid19 surge from the thanksgiving holiday amid already recordhigh infection rates, some republican governors are dropping their resistance to mask mandates, including Iowa Governor kim reynolds, who imposed a limited mask mandate tuesday. But many of these same governors continue to hold off on implementing other Public Health measures. In texas, where coronavirus case have reached record highs for a second time in the pandemic, Governor Greg Abbott says no new lockdown is coming. Hes even pushing back on local policies in places like El Paso County along the mexico border, which is facing one of the worst covid19 outbreaks in the country. After the Texas Attorney general sued to stop an order closing nonessential businesses in el paso, a state Appeals Court agreed with the challenge thursday, which allowed businesses to open the next day. About 80 of el paso residents are latinx. The county now has 10 mobile morgues to hold bodies. Some prisoners are being paid just 2 an hour to move the bodies as the number of cases and deaths has completely overwhelmed local hospitals. They are moving the corpses. A traveling nurse who worked at the El Paso University Medical Center spoke out about what she called a horrific scene for patients with covid19. In a facebook video earlier this month, lawanna rivers also described a room she calls the pit, where she says patients were sent to die with minimal treatment. They did not aggressively treat thems they should have. And accoing to their sff, doctors at the hospital even before vid. I saw a lot of people died that i feel like should not have died. It broke me. What i was put in what is called the pit. ,n the pit wasight patients covidpositive. My first day of orientation, i was told whatever patients go intohe pitthey only come out in a body bag. Ced ients that we because they were covidpositive, this hospital policy was the only get ree rounds of cpr, which is only six minutes. Out of all the codes we have, theres not a single patient that made it. Literally,this, almost destroyed me. Husband, called my best friend from there. I just cried. I just said, what i am seeing here is just not right. Amy that is visiting nurse lawanna rivers describing a hospital in el paso. Well, for more, we go to el paso to speak with dr. Emilio gonzalez ayala, a leading pulmonary disease and Critical Care specialist. Thank you so much for taking the to usdr. Ayala, to speak today. If you can start off by describing the situation in el paso, so extreme that the county administration or dried to put administrator try to put restrictions on el paso and the governor prevented them from being implemented . Unfortunately, we have been facing these decisions by the government of the state and obviously, as you mentioned, before the mandate to close nonessential businesses has impacted us in a significant way because we continued to see the surge of numbers in the hospitals, in the er throughout the city, and we are at capacity. We are beyond the limit where we to admit to the hospital patients that come in critically ill and we are flying them out directly from the er to other hospitals in the state where they can be admitted and treated. We are keeping a large numr of intubated and ventilated patients in the er waiting for beds to open in the icu, but are toos these patients unstable and to critically ill to continue waiting there so we need to make race for them by either moving the stable patients in the icu or flying out the stable ones that are in the er. Juan dr. Gonzalez, i want to ask you about the situation in juarez, across the border, often called the sister city of el paso. Some people would argue that el paso is actually a suburb of juarez, which is a much, much bigger city. Your sense of how the close relationship between these two cities has affected the covid pandemic one way or the other . Well, it is the same city in essence. Its called the metroplex, war is el paso. Obviously, we have a lot of patients that e u. S. Residents and u. S. Citizens that reside the other side of the border and they can come in legally, obviously, and request to be seen and treated in el paso as they are rightly citizens or residents. Obviously, we are seeing those patients come across the border. That impacts also our ability to continue to treat patients in the hospital. They are at capacity as well. There is no place no hospital in war is that has available beds. It is the same situation in essence. Of thehis whole issue refusal of state officials to allow the municipality and the local officials to implement the kinds of restrictions on public toherings that you want have . What is the impact of that on your being able to curb the pandemic . Obviously, were not going to be able to curb that surge in numbers without those mandates. Obviously, we are entering the influenza season and we are already seeing patients presenting with both infections influenza and covid. Obviously, that does not help but all. We are pleading with the public to avoid visiting or bringing in visitors during the holidays. Thanksgiving is in the next couple of weeks. We are asking them not to relax precautions and to avoid even getting their neighbors into their houses to celebrate. I think if we want to continue to celebrate these holidays next year, we need to sit out this one. Talk, dr. Gonzalez ayala, about the rationing that we are hearing. We are hearing the county judge has said care is being rationed in el paso hospitals. And can you talk about without traveling nurse said, the horror of nurses working in the pit, leaving doctors doctors not being able to go into the area or not going into the area, people just being left to die and prisoners being paid order to like 2 in move corpses . We are talking 10 mobile morgues have been set up. So i am in private practice. Although i have privileges at University Medical center i dont practice there so i cannot unc. To the situation at ive not been there in a while. I am familiar with the facebook video that is nurse posted. Andow my colleagues in umc texas tech science center, which staff that hospital. I know them very well. I am not sure i can fully believe that account. These are very humane, very ethical, very rational decisions. I dont that really happening. Like i doubt it, but i have not been there. I can tell you that care is not being rationed in the private hospitals where i practice. Yes, we are overstretched. We are having to receive help from fema with physicians, nurses, respiratory therapist, nurse practitioners. Receivingteful we are this help to staff the hospitals and continue to liver the care that we alone, the people that live here in el paso, physicians that work he in el paso, cannot provide on our own without that help. But we are not rationing care. We are limited by the number of ds we have available, but we are not deciding who lives and who dies. And that would be unethical. And illegal. So i dont see that happening at this point in the facilities where i practice. Juan dr. Gonzalez, i want to ask about as a Frontline Worker facing this pandemic, not only the problems that you see at the state level, but also at the national level, when you find the white house itself often makes contradictory statements to those of the Health Centers fors at the Disease Control and National Institutes of health. Your sense of what the impact of these mixed messages from the Political Leadership the impact it has on your ability to work on the front lines . Well, i think that the medical community has better understands, when , heexample dr. Fauci speaks speaks wh the truth. I think weostly follow his advice. He is an authority not only in the country, but worldwide. Even though we have a lot of political ming out from washington for the most part, what comes out of d fauci and most of what the cdc puts out is good advice and we tend to follow it for the most part. When i hear this political messaging, i filter out what doesnt make sense to us from a scientific or medical standpoint. Amy can you talk, dr. Gonzalez ayala, about thanksgiving and what this means for el paso . Wh message are you putting out right now . And also if you could talk about being a pulmonologist and what that means, the kind of deadly combination, if you could talk more about the flu as well as covid . Well, the message we are trying to send again is, please, celebrating ind person. It sounds terrible. Draconianlike a measure, but were asking people to not go and visit anybody. And following up with patients that have recovered already from covid over the last few months in my office via telephone encounters, and i have a lot of patients asking, hey, can i go and visit my relatives in houston or my relatives in california . I am pleading with them, please, dont go anywhere. Stay put, even though you already caught covid and we assume you have some immunity, you can still catch another virus. You can catch influenza. Stay put. Dont go anywhere. Sit out this holiday so you can celebrate next year. Now to the question of what it means to be a pulmonologist and dealing with this, i think it is the experience that i have never been exposed to. We are seeing this go completely beyond the point wre we usually see it with the the months of in january and february where we have, yes, a lot of patients waiting for beds in the er, but never to this extent. It is way beyond. Never seen it before anywhere, and i worked in miami and houston and obviously here in el paso. I have never encountered these kinds of extremes where we are overrun with patients that are critically ill. Amy dr. Emilio gonzalez ayala, thank you for being with us, leading pulmonary disease and Critical Care specialist. Go from ele back, we paso, which is one of the hotspots at this country, to north dakota, which currently has the highest covid19 death rate in the world. We will talk with a member of the Standing Rock sioux tribe and we will go to Navajo Nation in zona, which is now going through yet another lockdown. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Report. The quarantine we go now to north dakota, which currently has the highest covid19 death rate of any state or country in the world with one in every 1000 residents dead from the virus. South dakotas death rate is nearly as bad after both State Governments spent months downplaying the crisis and republican governors refusing to mandate, until recently in north dakota. Over the weekend, facing rapidly spiking numbers north dakotas republican governor doug burgum finally declared a statewide mask mandate, limited indoor restaurant capacity, and shut down high school sports. The move came just a week after he said infected but Asymptomatic Health care workers should still work and treat covid19 patients at hospitals. Meanwhile, rightwing south governorpublican kristi noem, a trump ally, continues to deny the crisis and will not issue a mask mandate. A south dakota emergency room nurse told cnn shes treated many patients who deny that covid19 is making them ill even as theyre hospitalized. And die of the disease. Ravages the dakotas, we turn to look at how the rapid spread of covid19 is affecting native american communities, which have already faced disproportionate infection and death rates throughout the pandemic. Were joined by Jodi Archambault, a citizen of the Standing Rock sioux tribe and the former special assistant to president obama for native American Affairs for the white house domestic policy council. She is in the f north dakota, bismarck. She is the sister of the former chair of the Standing Rock sioux dave archambault. We also joined by allie young, citizen of Navajo Nation and founder of protect the sacred. Jodi, north dakota has the deadliest covid death rate in the world. Its effect onbout the native American Community there of which you are a park . Thank you, amy. Say thatust like to this has been a tough several months just hoping that the government takes action, the State Government the way they behave and the way they react affects our people directly, mostly because we have some of the highest rates of the underlying conditions that make covid19 a deadly disease. So were having a lot of people perish. We are having a lot of death, a lot of hospitalizations. It is affecting us in ways that is not widely known by the rest of america. We have very few years we have about maybe a decade, maybe 15 years where we have to save our language. Have other tribes in most of the, speakers of our languages are over the age of 70. We dont have very much time to spend wi them and learn and protect, revitalize our linkages. Covid19 has put on an additional layer of risk that is just putting us into a very difficult time. , how didi archambault it get to this day . Especially in the native communities of the state, how did the pandemic spread so rapidly in your community . It did not spread very rapidly at first. Hitou know, the covid19 the citys first, hit seattle and new york city in north dakota and south dakota, we shut down the businesses and took a lot of precautions early on until about may. North dakota and south dakota were the first states to open their doors to business as usual. Restaurants people were shy at first, but at this point, there is a lot of people who have followed the line of thinking that covid19 is a hoax or it is some kind of democrat conspiracy. And a lot of people refuse to wear masks. Even with the mask mandate. This has all accelerated on the reservation. Have alltions installed roadblocks. They have implemented roadblocks to stop traffic and outsiders from coming on the reservation. In the response and the response to their actions to protect tribal members and elders and the like, was for governor noem to torture them and hold them hostage with funding. She has coordinated with the Trump Administration to make it difficult to receive the federal resources that are allocated to the tribal governments and have used that as a stick to try to force them to take the roadblocks down. And rather than supporting them and thanking them for trying to address the lack of Health Services available on the reservation, she has made it more and more difficult for people for our tribes to protect ourselves. Governor, cana you talk about is originally saying that people who are healthcare workers who test positive for covid should remain working if there asymptomatic and treat covid19 patients and governor burgum then being forced to back down after the outcry saying no to mask mandate and then saying yes . I will just tell you that from it is really hard to speak up in north dakota. The new sources out here tote cover any alternate perspective. But i will say the Nurses Association and Advocacy Group did as your prayers ise a press rulers after the governor said they could go back to work while they were testing covered positive. That was last week on wednesday. Within hours, there was a pushback from the Nurses Association. None of the hospitalhave taken him up on the offer and it is ridiculous that the leaderships response to being the worst covid rates in the world would be to allow nurses to infect other nurses, other doctors, and other patients by coming to work with covid. It is the most preposterous type of Government Action that i have ever heard up. So the businesses the business of the hospital is asking for this kind of, i guess, allowance to allow sick people without sptoms to come and spread. Is thely, this situation we are talking about is the lack of compassion for those elders, not just native elders, but all elders, all people with Underlying Health conditions like cancer. It is an absolutehoice, a clear choice to choose profit over people. So the governor is not putting people first, he is putting profit first. The same with governor noem in south dakota. She has bn actively asking people to come to south dakota. Come to the hottest second hottest spot in the world and have your vacation because we do not care if you wear aask or not. That is what her response. And to increase the risk that tribal governments by forcing them to take down their barriers or trying to force them they have not taken them down it is remarkable that they are able to stick to that government decision that is saving lives on the reservation. It is still spreadg. It is still spreading on the reservations because there is active commerce between reservations and cities. So it is getting in. Juan i would like to bring in allie young to the conversation, citizen of the Navajo Nation and founder of protect the sacred. Welcome to democracy now could you talk about the situation in Navajo Nation in terms of covid, and also maybe comment on the fact not all native areas have gaming but quite a significant percentage do and too often it is the gaming revenues that help provide Health Services, social services could you talk about the impact of the shutdowns on the ability of the native peoples to provide Health Services as well . Yeah. Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me. Right now we are seeing another search in Navajo Nation as we expected. As you all know, we were the number one hotspot in the country perapita in the spring. We worked hard to flatten the curve and we were able to. There was a day where we had zero reported cases. Of thisntly, because bike across the country, what we have been seeing throughout the nation with some of the rallies some of our border towns around here are trump territory and so there were rallies that i witnessed. Come to do their shopping. We have like 13 grocery stores. So we have to travel to these territories where they are not thinking they are not Wearing Masks and theyre not thinking about their neighbors who have been impacted. Gaming,our point about the gaming industry in native communities. At Navajo Nation, we have some casinos and hotels as well. They have all been shut down and it has impacted us economically, financially. As far as health care, we have had to i worked on psa to protect the sacred that called out for medical volunteers. That is the state we were in that we had to make that call out for ppe supplies, medical allnteers, because we lack of those resources and funding in our tribal communities when we are supposed to be guaranteed Quality Health care through our treaties with the federal government. Amy allie young, of talked about the feeling that so many native elders are suffering as a result from the decades of uranium mining, particularly of pulmonary and respiratory diseases, making them even more vulnerable. Youre talking sometng like over 600 people just on the navajo reservation have died as it this weekend of covid. Is something that i am trying to connect the dots to anyone i speak to. Lets not forget about how the federal government green that these companies coming into green lit these companies coming into extract minerals. Navajo nation for 30 plus years, we have peabody and the Northwestern Region of Navajo Nation, which was our hotspot within the nation. Therelot of our people up , the waters and our lands are contaminated by uranium and our elders had to work through they justn uncles shut down last year in 2019. A lot of our people have worked through those unsafe environments and certainly have those preexisting and underlying conditions that we need to consider and why we are so vulnerable to the virus. Amy were going to go to break and come back to talk about what native americans can do, and that has to do with voting, which certainly people came out in force. We would like to ask you to stay with us come allie young. We will also be joined by a native american from wisconsin. Jodi archambault, in this last 30 seconds we have you, can you overall talk about the massive voter turnout at least increase in native american turnout not noted in that Mainstream Media . Sure. I just want to say despite the risk of being exposed to covid, theumbers were incredible. I think this is something that is often overlooked by Mainstream Media only because Mainstream Media has a tendency to leave out the full picture when it comes to native americans. In fact, cnn did an info graphic and labeled they did a breakdown of the different people who voted in the election , and for native americans, they did not have us labeled as native americans. They call this Something Else. Amy we have that actual graphic right here. , black ite, latinx or latino, black, and then Something Else and then asian. Social media, we are very much a resiliency is through our humor. He just took off. Custerdy kept saying says, yeah, they sure are Something Else. A lot of people have taken it as a call to try to bring attention to the people at cnn, to the mainstream who continuously dont see us. It is intentional because we are a reminder of the bloodshed that it took to make this country. We are not congruent with the american dream. We are still here. We are actually bleeding leading the way on how to handle pandemics because we have been through so many of them and it is so ingrained in our communities that we are not seeing this we are not victims in this, we are actually ready to fight. We are ready to push back and do what we can to protect ourselves because it is the only way we have made it this far and we know that people in america dont see us so we have to do it for ourselves. Di, i wanted to, because when i saw this figure of Something Else in these examples, try to dig a little deeper into what was behind it, especially since it appeared to grow by about a percentage point from the previous election. It turns out this is a catchall placeholder where they include people who identify themselves as multiracial, people who declined in the exit polls to identify their race, and also native americans. So iis a catchall it is indefensible, but it is a complex number. It turns out about two thirds of those who identified as other or Something Else voted for joe biden versus donald trump. It is a shortcut for the exit poll people to not have to do a better job of being able to parse the various parts of the electorate. Amy we want to thank Jodi Archambault for joining us, citizen of the Standing Rock sioux tribe in north dakota. We will continue on this issue that juan is addressing with respectung, who led writers to the polls. Shes a citizen of the Navajo Nation and founder of protect the sacred. And we will go to wisconsin to speak with a native american man who is been analyzing the native american vote. No, it is not Something Else, it is that native american nations of this country. Stay with us. [muc break] amy s on cover of old town road. This is democracy now im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. To look at how native American Voters and a key swing states help to turn the 2020 president ial election for joe biden due to a massive increase in native voter participation. As we reported on election night, cnn sparked swift backlash after posting a graphic labeling native American Voters as Something Else. They would later apologize. It was native American Voters who helped flip several states for biden in this years president ial showdown in arizona, a state that has not gone blue since 1996. Navajo voters turned out much higher rates than 2016 after a massive grassroots effort to get out the vote. In wisconsin where biden won by just 21,000 votes, there was also a surge in native American Voter precipitation participation. For more on voting in Indian Country in a Critical Role native American Voters made in this, were joined from wisconsin by the president of indian is a lawyer who served in the interior department. In arizona iss allie young, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and founder of protect the sacred. Allie, if you could start off by talking about what you did in arizona . Talk about the horseback ride that you took actually, i understand youre now in new mexico. Yes, i am. My mom lives here in new mexico with my sister i am with my sister and my mother right now. I worked with my father who arizona. Arizona,ways voted in resided with my father. Ides. Ve always done trail at is oubonding thg. We havdone them throhout navajoation. Th year whene werthinking about thleion, he nted to do a biden joe wright. When ialled hiback an thoughabout e signifance of trail ride and theespect our pele have for eorses me as weallt, horse mecine. Horse medines whenou are in rhythwith theorse almt in sc. Yoare recoected an focused. As you ride inur own homeland in a related rended o what our cestorfought for our in heowne homelands,ur cultu, and al our ght toote. I went backo my father and said, what isappeningith the troue i . Said, yh, i dt ink were goingo do it i sai i thinke shouldo it. But withrotect the sacred, ha to beonpartis. So iis more ofetting fks ouof the polls so than cast the ballots i thk we shld do th becausat the se time i thin our nave amerinouth, was hearing therod that the were not feeling vy motated to particite in th election as a l of othecommunits of lor becae why coinue participing in stem thatas ver work fors . Not worng fors . Wantedo communate to them ss an election we cannot amy keep going. I often find our native youth, we are more educated than ever. That is why there is this resistance because we know our history and what has happened to us historically. And also we are more connected to technology and information then ever and we are more eager to reconnect to our cultures and that respect for our ancesto and elders are still there. And wanted to strategize use that and say, ok, lets find something thatill excite our native youth rooted in our culture that will also help us reclaim arizona. I keep saying arizona is indigenous dna is that republicans dna, as i heard on the news when i was watching about a month before we decided to do ride to the polls. That is what motivated me is because arizona has this deep history of ma tribal communities, and it is not just a place where where conservatives go to retire. This is our homeland. I called on my people, lets show up. Lets show them we are still here. Lets represented. Lets make sure that we have a seat at the table and that our voices are heard. So tt is white was so important. Im so happy that a lot of young people did come out. Itid excite them. I got so many positive messages from our efforts. I think it was a positive rnout. Lie, what were the results from what you are able to tell . Obviously, not the exit polls did not factor in or count native american votes, but what has been the result in the actual vote totals you have been able to see so far . I believe around 60,000 something navajo in Navajo Nation. County where i did all of my work and i vote and ache county, they overlapped. Areas, navajo people turned out to vote i think 84 of those who had registered turned out to vote. 97 of those who cast their ballot voted for joe biden. That is just incredible. That jt shows the contribution swing native vote in key states, not only Navajo Nation, but there is a map that compares tribal communities and all of those tribal communities voted blue. We came out strong. I think we did do a great job in reclaiming arizona, saying we are still here, that we have always been here, and that now we are going to keep working to hold this new Administration Accountable as well. Organizedot only , allie, ones of the hardest groups to actually vote, young people. Maybe it is because of your you certainly, galvanize people. What is the most effective way to get firsttime voters involved, to make them feel like theyre making a difference when they have not done this before . Was all my strategy around yet to think about what we are working within. Young people, we are tuned into social media, so definitely it is a powerful tool. So connecting with them that way. We had a huge social media strategy. And also layering in the cultural revitalization, particularly with native youth. But also think with a lot of other youth across other communities of color because i think were in this amazing moment where all about amenities of color are reconnecting just communities of color are reconnecting to our culture and we are proud of who we are and where we come from. So using that and saying, lets show up inhat way, show , fightingcial media for our representation. That takes work. We are not just going to automatically be talked about in the media. We have to show up. And that is the messaging that i used, especially for native people who were too often invisible in the media, were called Something Else. Lets turn that on its head. Lets show them were still here, not going away, and we are going were going to make our statement. I think that is really effective, especially with our leaders, our Young Leaders today. We are very progressive. Innately native people activists and political because we are not even supposed to be here. That definitely juan we have less than a minute, but im wondering if you could quickly say what your main expectations are of the new biden administrations policy toward native American People . Bewere definitely going to making sure we are represented, especially when it comes to climate change. We do want to have a seat at the table. We want to be in the conversation because we have Incredible Knowledge about the way we respect mother earth, we honor mother earth. And those are things that will end up saving mother earth. So learning from us, collaborating with us, is one issues of were still in covid19 and it is still severely impting our tribal communities, so we are expected we are expecting them to work with us and helping to bring the funding and aid we need because the initial stimulus package was not enough. Amy we want to thank you, allie young for being with us, the dissent of the Navajo Nation and founder of protect the sacred. You burton bring at democracynow. Orgne to talk about the critical native voter, in wisconsin. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] xxxxxxdnooooooooooooooo